Some individuals tend to underestimate the span of 10 years and dismiss the potential for Turkey to develop its own 5th generation fighter. It's quite revealing how some equate China's lack of innovation and Russia's challenges with technology to Turkey's ambitious goals and advanced engineering capabilities, showcasing their biases and limited perspectives.
I'm confident that we'll witness the emergence of a flying TF prototype by 2026. Even if it takes flight by 2030, the endeavor remains highly valuable and worthwhile.
The design of a promising multi-role fighter to replace the Su-27 and MiG-31 began in the USSR in the late 1970s. On July 5, 1981, a resolution was issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the deployment of a Targeted Comprehensive Program for the creation of such fighters.
In the late 1990s, the Sukhoi Design Bureau won a competition to create a promising fifth-generation front-line aviation complex (PAK FA) for the Russian Air Force. The project of the aircraft, designated T-50, has been developed since 1999. The preliminary design was ready by the fall of 2004.
The first flight prototype of the T-50 took off on January 29, 2010. To date, only 16 flying copies have been manufactured.
Even after 20 years of development and 15 years after its first flight, the Su57 is still not a 5th generation fighter. They fly with the old AL 41 F1 engine, developed on the basis of the AL31F engine, created back in 1984 in the USSR.
Russian officials once again promise that the new engine for the Su57 will be ready by 2028.
By 2028, 10 to 20 KAAN will be manufactured. Then the domestic engine must be ready for this.
I have been following the development of both fighters from the very beginning, and, in my opinion, the Russians will simply stop production of the SU57, as happened with their “new generation” tank, the Armata. The Russians have apparently abandoned the Su57 and are already announcing that they are developing a sixth-generation fighter. This is another Russian folk tale.
Let me remind you that the first production Su57 fell and crashed during its first flight in 2019.
When entire squadrons of KAAN appear in the sky, the Russians on the ground in their worthless SU will look at them with envy
